Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant (23 August 1978-26 January 2020) was an American professional basketball player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a former NBA player, John Bryant, and he was brought up in the Catholic faith and raised in Italy, where his father was playing professional basketball. Bryant learned to play basketball in Reggio Emilia, and the family returned to the United States in 1991. Bryant became the top high school basketball player in the country while attending Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, and he made the 1996 NBA Draft and played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2016, becoming a five-time NBA Champion, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, an 18-time NBA All Star, and a four-time NBA All-Star Game MVP. He was convicted of sexual assault in 2003, only for the charges to be dropped and a civil suit settled out of court. He retired from basketball in 2016 due to his physical decline.

Bryant was involved in human rights organizations and politics during and after his basketball career. He contributed to aid efforts for Darfur during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and he also supported educational and veterans' organizations as a philanthropist. Bryant was a close friend of the Democratic President of the United States Barack Obama, and, on 2 November 2016, he alluded to his support for Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election by telling his followers, "You know what candidate I'm supporting," hinting at his many years of support for the Democratic Party.

At 10:00 AM on 26 January 2020, Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and three others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. His helicopter had left Orange County at 9:06 AM and crashed into the mountains above Calabasas in heavy fog, and his shocking death was met with great sadness across the world. Bryant was often considered to have been one of the best basketball players of all time, and even the best of all time by some.